


It's Only Love

by BluebellWinter



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex and Bobby don't approve of the relationship though, F/F, Is it underage if he's seventeen, Jealous Luke, M/M, Reggie dates an older woman, She's only twenty-seven though, if that helps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28692636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebellWinter/pseuds/BluebellWinter
Summary: “Please tell me that she’s not going to be there,” Alex replied anxiously.“She’s not going to be there,” Reggie responded.“Aw, is your girlfriend to busy to baby-sit you?” asked Luke with a hint of venom in his voice.--Or in which Reggie gets a girlfriend, who his friends don't approve of, and Luke gets jealous.
Relationships: Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 142





	It's Only Love

**Author's Note:**

> The song Praying for Rain is real, and written by Story of the Year.

To be honest, Reggie wasn’t sure how his relationship with Katherine Hatcher started. One day, he vaguely remembered talking to the woman, because she seemed upset about an argument that she had with her husband, and the next thing he knew, he was naked and waking up next to her in her bed.

He was a little ashamed of what had happened, that he didn’t tell his friends about the whole ordeal. Besides that, he didn’t know how it happened and he really didn’t want them to make fun of him. They would probably say something that was hurtful and equally humiliating, something like, “ _Look at Reggie, finally growing up. He finally lost his V-card._ ”

A few hours later, he was surprised when a venue had called to tell them that they had a gig and Reggie was sure that Katherine had something to do with it. After the gig, he had gone over to talk to her about it and somehow it ended up with them in bed. Again.

Instead of getting up, putting his clothes on, and leaving like last time, he talked to her. He told her all about his friends and how the band started, and some of the songs they played. He told her about some of the arguments that his parents had and how he had to leave his home to get away from it. He downplayed the arguments saying that it happened from time to time, not almost daily like they were and how bad they were. He told her that it wasn’t bad and he never told her about glass breaking.

She told him about her failing marriage and how she and her husband were pulling away from each other and how lonely she was getting since her husband was always on business trips leaving her alone for days on end. Reggie suspected that maybe Mr. Hatcher was having an affair, but how can he really know? It could’ve been all business.

Of course every now and then when his parents were fighting, he started going to her house. He went to the studio and had gone to Luke’s home once or twice for comfort. Sometimes after practice, he went to Katherine’s home to hang out. Thankfully (or unfortunately) it didn’t end up with them in a bed together.

He honestly liked Katherine. She was hot, which was an added bonus, despite her being twenty-seven years old. She also got them gigs, which Reggie kept a secret.

He felt like he was actually helping out the band for once. He had told Katherine that he felt useless at times and that they can find a new bass player who wasn’t a total fuck up.

He was honestly surprised that he kept whatever they had a secret for so long.

He wasn’t entirely sure if the others had noticed that he was kind of pulling away after rehearsals or if they had noticed that before practice he went to spend time with Katherine (who at this point told him to call her Kathy.)

Reggie didn’t want his band to know about Kathy. He was sure that if she met Luke, she would leave him for the singer. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened either. He remembered dating Sidney Caldwell and when she was on the receiving end of one of Luke’s smiles, she dumped him and threw herself at Luke. Luckily Luke didn’t bite and turned her down. He didn’t want to lose Kathy to Luke. Once she would meet Luke, she would most likely fall a little bit in love with Luke. Who wasn’t a little bit in love with Luke? Reggie knew that he was a little bit in love with Luke, who he knew would never return his feelings, so Reggie decided to bury his feelings in Kathy (along with certain anatomy.)

* * *

Somewhere along the way, they swapped phone numbers. That way, when Kathy got lonely and Mr. Hatcher wasn’t home, she would text Reggie to come over whenever he can, which was always right away, since his parents never noticed or cared that he would leave the house.

He was honestly surprised that he kept their relationship a secret for nearly a month. It was, in a way, thrilling, having a secret girlfriend. He once stayed with her for three days without his parents noticing, but they were to busy fighting each other. He wasn’t surprised that the others haven't noticed because they never mentioned going by his home to talk to him or something, to notice that he was gone, but he told himself that it was okay. Alex and Luke had each other (they were a lot more closer to each other than they were to Reggie and Bobby) and Bobby had the current girlfriend of the month to be with, so that left Reggie without anybody to be with.

But now, Reggie was glad that he had Kathy to be with. Maybe it was unhealthy for him to latch onto the only person who gave him the time of day, but he didn't care.

Of course, he should’ve known that his secret would come out eventually. It was fun while it lasted.

* * *

“Get up,” Kathy hissed at Reggie, roughly shaking him awake.

“Wha…?” asked Reggie, blinking up at his girlfriend.

“Joshua’s back,” said Kathy. “You need to leave now.”

That snapped him to a mostly awake state. He got up, pulled on his clothes, and grabbed his backpack. He went to the window and opened it. He dropped his backpack outside and went to join it on the ground. He got up and hurried away from the lawn. Well, that was a close call. (He had another close call and had to hide under the bed.)

When he got to the studio, Alex and Luke were already there.

“Did you just barely wake up?” asked Luke.

“Yeah,” said Reggie, “Overslept. You know how my parents are.”

“Why do you have mud on your jeans?” Alex pointed out.

“Slipped and fell,” said Reggie. He was surprised by how the lie fell from his lips so easily.

For a brief moment, it looked like Alex and Luke believed it.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” said Bobby from behind Reggie.

“What?” asked Reggie looking at him.

“I saw you leaving through Katherine Hatcher’s window,” said Bobby with a smirk. “Judging from your half-asleep state, I’ll assume that was her bedroom.”

Why did Bobby have to go into dick-mode and call him out like this?

Reggie threw his backpack at Bobby, “I’m not telling you shit.”

“I want to know why you were leaving through a window. What? The door wasn’t good enough?” asked Alex.

Luke had a strange look on his face that Reggie couldn’t figure out.

“That’s because Katherine’s husband was home,” said Bobby.

The ‘husband’ part seemed to linger in the air.

Reggie glared at Bobby, hoping that it would convey the promise of serious harm; like punching him in the throat. However, either it wasn’t effective or Bobby just didn’t care.

“You’re seriously screwing a married woman?” asked Alex incredulously.

“Her husband is off on business trips which is usually code for ‘having affairs’,” said Reggie weakly. “He once didn’t return for two weeks according to her.”

“That does explain his long absences,” mused Bobby.

“That’s still no excuse,” said Luke angrily.

“A married woman, though?” asked Alex. Reggie just shrugged. “Wait. Is that why you didn’t show up to our movie night yesterday? You were off sleeping with this woman?”

“How long has this been going on?” Luke demanded.

Reggie bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t like arguments and it was gearing up to be a big one. He had to let it explode. It’ll be easier that way. So he answered, “A month.”

Even Bobby looked surprised at the answer.

Both Alex and Luke looked like Reggie just slapped them. And maybe it would’ve been better for him to have actually slapped them. It would’ve only lasted for a few moments but the betrayal of never telling them would last a lot longer.

He really started guilty for not telling them sooner.

“Why didn’t you say anything to us?” Alex asked sadly.

The hurt on his face hurt even Reggie, so he managed to stammer out some kind of excuse, because even he knew his reasoning was not a justification for keeping it a secret.

Throughout the story of how it happened, Reggie noticed how angry and confused that Luke seemed to be getting, before resting on disappointment and averted his gaze. Disappointing Luke was like instant regret; kind of akin to accidentally stepping on a baby animal…or a small child.

They seemed to be (mostly) okay with the relationship, until he had to open up his big mouth about the gigs that they would get in return, which was definitely the wrong thing to say, because it was the eventual blow up that he wanted to avoid.

“We get to the top by talent, not by fucking our way there! We’re not that kind of band!” snapped Luke. He turned and walked out of the studio, slamming the door shut.

Reggie looked at Alex, who looked like he was going to say something, but he turned and left too, closing the door quietly behind him. Reggie looked at Bobby who looked slightly pained, “Are you going to walk out too?”

“No,” said Bobby. “I’m sorry that I threw you under the bus like that. I really wish I could take it back. I’m on your side on this. Luke…just needs to suck it up.”

“Suck what up?” asked Reggie.

“Nothing,” muttered Bobby. “You should tell her to stop booking gigs for us, though. I kind of don’t want to be known as the guy who screwed his way to the top.”

“Right,” mumbled Reggie.

“They’re pissed that you didn’t tell us,” said Bobby.

“I kind of figured that,” said Reggie, roughly sitting down on the couch. His parents were right. He was a disappointment.

“I can kind of see why you didn’t say anything at first. I would’ve said something like ‘ _You screwed your baby-sitter_ ’?” Bobby said, “But they’ll get over it. It’s just shock.” He grabbed Reggie’s arm, “Come on. Let’s get out of here and go to the beach or something. Maybe we can look at chicks in bikinis. Or would your old lady friend allow you to do that?”

Reggie smacked him upside the head, but he was glad that at least someone seemed to take it well.

As they were walking to the beach, Bobby asked, “Why did you leave through the window anyway?”

“Her husband came home and she essentially forced me to leave through the window,” said Reggie.

“Do they not have screens on their windows? What do they do when bugs and shit get inside their home?” asked Bobby.

Reggie shrugged, because that was a good question.

* * *

“I told Kathy to stop booking us gigs,” Reggie said to Bobby. He made sure that Luke was in the same room to hear him say that. “She agreed to stop doing it.” He glanced at Luke, who actually seemed to relax a little at that, but he still seemed tense.

Bobby nodded, “Okay.”

Even a few days later, the fight still lingered when Reggie and Luke were in the same room together. Luke seemed to ignore Reggie’s presence and whenever Reggie happened to look over, Luke was giving him a weird scrutinizing look and when Luke noticed Reggie looking at him, Luke would look away.

Reggie wondered if Luke was looking for any sign of Reggie sleeping with Kathy the same night they found out. He didn’t, he just went home and listened to his parents’ verbal war and texted Bobby about whatever song lyrics came to mind.

“Was that the only close call that you had with her husband?” Alex asked. “I’m only asking because I don’t approve of your relationship with her. I don’t want you to be a homewrecker.”

“Well, she shouldn’t be having an affair then,” said Bobby. “Reggie isn’t the only one to blame here.”

“Their marriage was going to shit even before I became a homewrecker,” said Reggie.

“You’re not a homewrecker, Reg,” Bobby replied.

“Nah, I am,” said Reggie. “I’m not afraid to admit what I am.”

Reggie realized that he really fucked up a bit later when Luke refused to share a microphone with him. Reggie kind of expected that but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

After band practice, Luke and Alex left together, not bothering to stick around, leaving only Reggie and Bobby behind.

“I really fucked up, didn’t I?” asked Reggie.

“No, you didn’t,” said Bobby sighing. “Alex isn’t fine with you dating an old woman who’s married.” Reggie rolled his eyes at that insult, “And I’m not okay with it either, to be honest. It’s weird and, dude, she’s married.”

“Didn’t stop you from dating that one girl who already had a boyfriend,” countered Reggie.

“Okay, that’s fair,” said Bobby, “But at least she wasn’t married.”

“How long are you going to keep throwing that in my face?” asked Reggie.

Bobby scoffed, “‘ _how long_ ’? Dude, we’ve never going to let that go.”

“Sounds about right,” muttered Reggie.

“I managed to write the beginning of the song that we’re writing,” said Bobby.

“ _I found an angel near the edge,  
_ _I felt her placed against my skin,  
_ _I found the face of God I know  
_ _You’re more than me, I know I needed you._ ”

“Sounds a lot less country,” said Bobby. “I think I can get behind this one. Is it about Katherine?” He kind of grimaced at the thought.

Reggie shrugged, “Don’t know.”

For a few moments, they sat in silence.

“Do you think if they met Kathy, they would like her?” asked Reggie.

“That’s a bad idea,” said Bobby quickly, “a really _bad_ idea.”

“Just wondering,” Reggie replied. Of course it was a bad idea. Alex and Luke hated Kathy despite not knowing her. “Will they want to meet her eventually?”

“Truthfully? No, they will not,” said Bobby. “However, they might change their minds. Don’t hold your breath on it, though.”

* * *

After leaving the studio, Reggie went home. He needed to think things over and he wanted to be alone, again.

Everything was such a mess. His friends made it clear that they didn’t like Kathy, because she was too old for him and married. Yes, he realized he screwed up in that regard. Luke was clearly being a frosty bitch to him for it. Reggie was sure that he was still upset over the fact that he wasn’t told about the relationship, which had gone on for a month before being found out.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he’s expecting out of his relationship with Kathy to begin with. He realized that it was going on a little too long. He didn’t want Kathy to divorce her husband for _him_. He knew that Joshua was the victim in this shit-sandwich of a relationship.

All he wanted was to be loved for once and he found it. However, he also wanted his friendship back with Alex and Luke. It started looking like the only way he can get them back is if he called it quits with Kathy, but he didn’t want to just yet.

Was he in love with Kathy?

He wasn’t sure. He enjoyed whatever it was that they had, but can he call it love?

He knew that he had to call it quits with Kathy before the inevitable storm that would break out over it, but he just wanted someone to love him, and if he had to get it from a grown woman, he would.

He settled it; he would continue seeing her, at least for a little bit longer.

 _I love her,_ he told himself. _I’m doing this because I love her. We’re only seeing each other because we love each other. It’s only for love._

At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself as he went to sleep.

* * *

It turned out that Joshua Hatcher owned a bar as well as whatever it was that he also had business on. He had heard about the band and decided to hire them.

Reggie was worried that Josh had figured out that he was boning Kathy and decided to ‘check him out’ so-to-speak, but he was sure that was paranoia speaking.

Bobby was highly amused by the whole idea and Alex looked like he wanted to laugh or scold Reggie for continuing this relationship that was clearly getting close to being figured out by Josh.

Luke was busy glaring at him for reasons that Reggie still couldn’t figure out. He apologized to the singer for lying but all Luke did was grunt a response, which was the only bit of communication that they had in two weeks.

Reggie figured that his friendship with Luke was over, so he ignored Luke’s glaring by playing with the sleeves of his new denim jacket that Kathy bought for him, since Bobby accidentally ripped a sleeve off on Reggie’s old jacket. She had put some lyrics to an Ozzy Osbourne song on the sleeves. He was sure that the song was _Close Your Eyes Forever._

He had accidentally left the jacket behind in Kathy’s room and he was sure that Josh had seen it.

He wasn’t entirely sure what to get Kathy in return for the jacket, even though she said that she didn’t want him to get anything for her.

“So, your old lady friend’s husband wants us to perform at his bar?” asked Alex.

“Only perform, no drinking,” said Reggie, ignoring that dig at his girlfriend’s age. He didn’t have to look at Luke to know that Luke’s glare worsened. Somehow Reggie could _feel_ the glare.

“Please tell me that she’s not going to be there,” Alex replied anxiously.

“She’s not going to be there,” Reggie responded.

“Aw, is your girlfriend to busy to baby-sit you?” asked Luke with a hint of venom in his voice.

“Why are you being a frosty bitch?” snapped Reggie, kind of glad that Luke finally spoke to him, but also irritated that it had to be a dig at Kathy’s age.

“Yeah, Luke, stop being a frosty bitch,” said Bobby, chuckling a little at that.

Luke’s response to that was to flip him off.

For a brief moment, Reggie expected everything to go back to how they were, but alas, things didn’t.

* * *

Things seemed to turn into confusion after the gig.

Luke was talking to some dark-haired woman that looked a little to interested in him. It irritated Reggie. He knew that it was a bit of jealousy there, but Reggie had hoped that his relationship with Kathy would’ve gotten rid of the silly crush that he had on Luke, but apparently it was still there. However, it was also annoying because he gets slammed for dating a twenty-seven-year-old, but it was okay for Luke to flirt with someone who was in their early twenties? Okay, twenty-one wasn’t too bad of an age gap, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. So Reggie focused on song-writing with Bobby backstage.

It wasn’t until Josh came up to them to talk to them, that the man noticed the jacket that Reggie had left by his bass. It wouldn’t take long for pieces to click that he hired the guy who was screwing his wife to perform at his bar. Unless Josh had already put the pieces together and just wanted to double-check; either way, Reggie had paled at the realization and he knew that it would’ve been a major clue.

It was raining outside, and for a brief moment, Reggie wished that it could carry him far away from his fuck-ups and the eventual blow-out that everything would have.

He knew the eventual blow-out was coming quickly and for a brief moment, he felt like he was ready to die like a man; either by Luke’s hands or Josh’s hands, with the way those two glared at him. It was like giving a whole new meaning to the term ‘ _If looks could kill._ ’

So, while Luke drove and Alex chatted happily to him, Reggie and Bobby sat in the backseat of the van in silence.

Reggie wrote down in a notebook and passed it to Bobby to edit.

“ _It's moments like these  
Where I feel like I'm tied to the tracks  
And a train is barreling toward me  
I can feel its rumble and I can see its lights  
But somehow I'm not scared to die.  
_

 _I don't pray for it to stop, I don't pray for escape  
All I can do is close my eyes and wait  
And just moments before it decides  
To take my heart, take my blood  
I tell myself that it's only love_.”

* * *

Waking up in Kathy’s room was a regular occurrence. However waking up to see Kathy gone was slightly unusual but fine all the same. Waking up to Kathy’s husband sitting in a chair doing a crossword puzzle was highly unusual.

Reggie was glad that he was wearing pajamas.

Josh looked up at Reggie, “Good you’re up. I have things I want to say to you.”

“I’m sorry for sleeping with your wife for two months, please don’t smother me,” said Reggie.

Josh looked at Reggie almost confused, “I’m not…going to smother you.”

“Thank god for that,” Reggie muttered.

“First, I’m not mad about the affair,” said Josh.

“Right,” mumbled Reggie.

“Listen, I want you to find someone around your age, because I want you to experience new things with this person. Not with someone who experienced it before. Yeah, it’s great, but it’ll be a lot more fun if you both experienced it together,” said Josh.

In a way, Reggie knew that Josh had a point there. He looked at the window to see that it was raining again. For a moment, he wanted it to carry him away from this conversation, but he knew that he needed to have this conversation.

“I just want someone to love me, that’s all,” Reggie replied.

“You’ll find someone who will,” stated Josh.

Reggie snapped, “Like who? Have you seen my band-mates? Have you seen _me_?”

“I don’t know, but that Luke character seemed to have the hots for you,” Josh countered.

_Did…did he just say hots? Who still says that?_

Reggie forced out a laugh. “No he doesn’t. He’s mad at me for me fooling around with your wife.”

“Which is a good reason, but I did watch a few of your former performances and I figured that you two were…rather close when sharing a mic. However your recent performance…” started Josh.

“He’s being frosty towards me since the beginning of the month,” said Reggie. He pulled his knees up to his chest. “And that’s because he found out about Kathy and me and he’s been ignoring me since.”

“He’s probably jealous,” said Josh. “People handle jealousy differently.”

Reggie wondered if this man was on crack or something. “Right,” he muttered not believing him.

“But, I do want to drop your relationship with my wife,” Josh stated. “To be honest, I expected someone older. It’s a bit of a disappointment, really. I knew that she was with someone else, but I wasn’t expecting a teen. It’s kind of uncomfortable.”

Reggie nodded and gathered his backpack and put his shoes on. They headed to the door.

“I’ll stop seeing Kathy,” said Reggie. “I don’t want to be a homewrecker.”

“You’re not,” said Josh. “I’m glad that she found someone to keep her company for the time being. Now I want you to find someone around your age. They’re probably a lot closer to you than you think.”

Reggie nodded, but Josh led Reggie to the dining room where Kathy was at. “I think you both need to have a talk.”

He left them alone to talk, about what, Reggie wasn’t sure.

They stood in a silence for a moment before Reggie started speaking, “I think it’ll be best if I started seeing other people.”

“I agree,” Kathy responded nodding. “Maybe it’ll be best if you saw people your age.”

“You both make it sound _so_ easy,” said Reggie.

“From what you told me, Luke seems interested in you,” Kathy pointed out.

 _Why are they throwing Luke at me?_ Reggie wondered. He said, “You and Josh both think that.”

Kathy shrugged, “It’s just a suggestion.”

“I figured that much,” said Reggie, getting choked up now. His heart was hurting already, but it didn’t feel much like heartbreak. No, his heart was to dark for that from witnessing his parents' many arguments. He was pretty sure that his heart just got bruised.

“It’s for the best, Reggie,” said Kathy.

Reggie nodded, “I’ll leave you alone, if you leave me alone?”

“Yes,” said Kathy. “You’ll find someone who loves you.”

“Did you?” asked Reggie. “Love me, I mean?”

“I do,” said Kathy sadly. She was wiping her eyes off with a paper towel.

Reggie nodded, forcing back tears, “I love you, too.” He just wasn’t sure if he was _in love_ with her or if he _loved_ her for paying attention to him. Kathy looked at him and leaned over and kissed him one last time.

* * *

Reggie wasn’t sure how he managed to keep the tears in while Josh dropped him off at the studio. It was slightly embarrassing to get a ride from his now ex-girlfriend’s husband while he was on the verge of tears.

So when he walked in the studio, he was glad to see that he was alone. He flopped down on the couch and started sobbing into a pillow.

He knew that the break-up was coming, but it didn’t lessen the pain.

Of course his band-mates chose now to make their grand appearances. When the door opened, all chatter stopped at once.

So he managed to lift his face from his pillow and said, “Throw a fucking party, we broke up. Happy now?” He started crying again into the pillow. Someone had walked over to him and started rubbing his back.

The ‘ _finally_ ’ didn’t need to be said, but Reggie knew that they were all thinking it. That hurt too.

He wasn’t sure how long he cried, but the tears started subsiding.

“Are you okay, Reg?” asked Bobby.

“No, I feel like I have a hole in my soul,” responded Reggie.

Everyone seemed to sigh at that.

“Well…” started Alex.

“Not now,” snapped Bobby.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say,” Alex countered.

“Something about how them breaking up is for the best,” said Bobby.

“So you do know,” said Alex.

Reggie looked at them, but if they were there in front of him, then who was…? He turned to look behind him to see that Luke was standing there behind the couch. He sat up on the couch.

“We’re sorry that you two broke up,” said Bobby.

“I’m not,” added Alex. Reggie rolled his eyes. “What happened anyway?”

Reggie explained how Josh knew that his wife was having an affair, but was surprised to know that she was seeing a teenager and not a grown man, and how he told Reggie to find someone his age to share life experiences with. He told them about how he and Kathy both agreed to never encounter each other again since it was for the best if Reggie saw other people. He left out the bits of conversation with Kathy and Josh throwing Luke at him since he still didn’t know what that was about.

They were silent when Reggie finished.

“It was inevitable,” said Alex.

“I fucking know that,” said Reggie. “I knew that it was going to happen eventually.”

“It just doesn’t make it hurt less?” asked Alex.

“Right,” said Reggie.

“I know what will cheer you up,” said Bobby clapping a hand on Reggie’s shoulder.

“What?” asked Reggie.

“I finally finished putting our song together,” said Bobby happily.

“You guys were working on a song?” asked Alex curiously.

“Well, considering that Luke there was being a petty bitch for the entire month, we had to do something with our time,” said Bobby.

“I’m not a petty bitch,” replied Luke, looking like he was pouting a little.

“You kind of were being one,” said Alex.

Reggie nodded.

“So, you two just wrote music together?” asked Luke.

“Yeah,” replied Reggie confused.

“What happened to that vase then?” asked Luke, pointing at a side table that a vase once resided on.

Reggie and Bobby glanced at each other.

_The sound of shattering glass startled Reggie so much that he actually fell off the couch. “What the f—?”_

_“Get back here, you ugly son of a bitch,” snarled Bobby. “I just want to kill you.” He started hitting the ground with the microphone stand._

_“What the hell are you threatening?” asked Reggie._

_“This ugly ass beetle,” said Bobby._

“Yeah, I’m not sure,” said Reggie.

“Someone probably broke in and stole it,” Bobby said.

“So, someone steals the vase but not the expensive equipment?” asked Luke in disbelief.

Bobby and Reggie shrugged in response.

“So, this song that you both wrote together?” asked Alex.

Bobby glanced at Reggie, but he wasn’t sure what Bobby was asking. He couldn’t tell if it was: _"Hey, can I show them the song"_ or " _do you want pizza later?"_

Reggie nodded and Bobby showed them the song. The song felt personal to Reggie but maybe it was okay.

“We should rehearse this song,” said Alex.

* * *

It took two weeks for things to finally start getting better with Luke.

For some reason, Luke still got frosty whenever Reggie wore the denim jacket. He wasn’t sure why until Luke finally said, “I thought you were done with _her_. Why are you still wearing the jacket _she_ gave you?”

“The sleeve on my old jacket got ripped off,” said Reggie.

Luke looked at him weirdly, “How?”

_“Get off of the couch with your nasty-ass shoes!” ordered Bobby. He grabbed at the sleeve of Reggie’s jacket and pulled. The sleeve ripped off._

“You know, I’m not really sure,” replied Reggie.

Luke stared at him, so Reggie stared back.

And they stared at each other a little longer.

Luke stepped closer to Reggie, “Were you…in love with her?”

Reggie had to think about it. Was he? “Maybe a little,” he replied. “I think we mainly used each other, though. She was lonely because Josh was never around and I was lonely because I didn’t have anybody, and I just wanted someone to love me.”

“So, is that why you needed her? Like in your song?” asked Luke.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that,” replied Reggie.

“So, to clarify, you just used each other?” asked Luke.

“Yes, Luke,” replied Reggie with a sigh, “We used each other.”

“So, you’re done with each other, right?” asked Luke.

“What is this about?” asked Reggie. “What is with these questions?”

Somewhere along the way, Luke had gotten closer to him and Reggie was surprised that he hadn’t noticed.

“Just wondering,” replied Luke. He had gotten so close to him that Reggie could feel their noses touching. Reggie glanced down at Luke’s lips and _wanted_ Luke to kiss him. Luke licked his lips and seemed to lean closer, but then Luke’s expression turned stony and he backed away, leaving Reggie thoroughly confused.

For a moment, it seemed like Luke was going to kiss him, but then…didn’t. Reggie felt disappointed at what happened and maybe he thought read the atmosphere wrong. Maybe Luke was going to say something like, “ _Bro, you have some dirt on your neck right there._ ”

So Reggie went and sat on the couch of the studio, playing with the sleeves of his denim jacket, trying to figure out what had just happened while they waited for Bobby and Alex to arrive. _Was Luke actually going to kiss me? If not, then what the hell was that all about?_ He wondered.

He felt Luke staring at him and turned to look at him. Luke had an almost wistful look on his face. When Luke noticed Reggie looking at him, he smiled and winked at Reggie.

Reggie looked away, blushing.

* * *

It was two days later when Reggie showed up to the studio early. He decided to practice the song that he and Bobby had written. The both of them agreed on calling it _Praying for Rain_.

He was surprised when Luke walked in and handed a dark colored bag to Reggie.

“Hey, you should lose that jacket and start wearing this. I think you’ll look better in it anyway,” said Luke sitting down next to Reggie.

Reggie opened the bag and took out a leather jacket. He took off the denim jacket and put the leather jacket on. He looked at it appreciatively and looked at Luke, smiling at him, “Thank you. I don’t know how to repay you, yet.”

Luke got a mischievous glint in his eyes that Reggie wasn’t sure if he should be worried about. “I have an idea.”

“What is it?” asked Reggie uncertainly.

Luke now gave him a mischievous smile, “How about you start telling everyone that I’m your boyfriend?”

Reggie was confused only for a split second, because Luke leaned in and kissed him. It was only a peck and Reggie didn’t have time to even respond.

“Sorry, if I crossed a line,” replied Luke quickly. His face was red. “I thought—”

“You didn’t even give me enough time to kiss you back, you ass,” replied Reggie. He pulled Luke into a kiss.

Luke kissed him back very harshly; like he was trying to erase all of Reggie’s memories of Kathy with one kiss or that he was trying to claim Reggie as his.

Luke pulled away first and Reggie would deny that he made a whiny sound. “By the way, I’m claiming that _Praying for Rain_ was inspired by me, ‘kay?”

Reggie just nodded mutely and Luke kissed him again, but this time softly.

Reggie grabbed onto Luke’s shoulders as Luke held onto the back of Reggie’s neck as their kiss deepened.

“Jesus Christ! It’s about fucking time!” yelled Bobby, making the two separate.

Luke glared at Bobby and Alex.

“Yeah, about time,” said Alex. “At least I don’t have to hear Luke’s endless complaining about Hatcher. ‘ _Why is he interested in her? She’s old’_ , _‘what does she have to offer that I don’t?’_ , ‘ _What if they’re making out right now?’_ , blah, blah, blah. Thank god I don’t have to hear that anymore.”

“Can you two please kindly fuck off?” grumbled Luke. He looked like he was pouting and Reggie wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t want to right in front of his friends. It would seem rude.

Alex and Bobby just smirked.

“Don’t forget to use different condoms for different orifices, but I bet everything that Alex owns that Reggie already knew that,” said Bobby with a smirk.

“Hey!” exclaimed Alex, but Bobby took Alex’s arm and dragged him out of the studio, slamming the door behind them.

Reggie looked at Luke, who had an irritated look on his face, so Reggie leaned over and kissed him.

Luke kissed him back.

And yeah, they had to talk about their relationship later, but right now, they just wanted to be in the moment.


End file.
